Albuquerque Academy’s middle school Science Olympiad team will represent New Mexico at nationals at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in May following an outstanding showing at the state competition.
The Chargers triumphed over 18 other middle schools with an impressive score of 79 points — well ahead of the second-place team’s 106 points. Their strong performance included eight 1st-place, four 2nd-place, and two 3rd-place finishes, with top-ten placements in all remaining events.
“This was an entirely unexpected victory for us,” says Coach Kiran Manne. “Nine team members are new to Science Olympiad, and many were competing as substitutes because of a busy competition weekend. They did an outstanding job.”
The Academy’s high school team finished second in the 23-team upper division, earning 94 points in a highly competitive field through four 1st-place, four 2nd-place, and six 3rd-place medals, with their lowest event placement being 11th.
Held at New Mexico Tech, the competition brought together student scientists from across the state to test their knowledge and skills in 23 events spanning life science, earth and space science, physics, chemistry, engineering, and general scientific principles. Students competed in pairs, tackling written exams, conducting hands-on labs, or testing devices they had pre-constructed. Team rankings were determined by the sum of event placements, with the lowest total score earning the championship.
Middle School Team Members
Andrew Auyang ’31
Aadit Balwan ’31
Zoheb Barrantes ’31
Eddy Bielejec ’28 (captain)
Ferris Busby ’30
Saharsh Cheppalli ’28
Maura Espinoza ’31
Mark Goldman ’29
Janvi Kalasikam ’31
Ryan Lim ’30
Krish Mahto ’29
Lily Marshall ’28
Neer Mueen ’31
Manas Namburi ’28
Abhay Roy ’28
High School Team Members
Isa Arbetan ’25
Jane Bielejec ’26
Anagha Devarakonda ’26
Charley Farr ’25
Dhruv Grandhe ’25 (captain)
Claire Lim ’26
TJ Miller ’25
Haley Pedersen ’25 (captain)
Akilan Sankaran ’25 (captain)
Sowmya Sankaran ’27
Anisha Sathish ’27
Aarush Tutiki ’26
Vilte Vitkauskaite ’26
Tiger Wong Wagner ’25
Duanduan Zheng ’26
